I haven’t been much for “The Blind Side” this year. I gave it a look pre-release and thought it was somewhat flat, expected it to be a modest hit (but was it much more than that) and maybe stir awards talk for Sandra Bullock but beyond that, I didn’t think it would move the needle much. Then the film took a life of its own, eventually crossing the $200 million domestic mark, yielding story after story focused on Bullock’s amazing year (the film is the first female-driven film to hit that box office milestone).
So I thought at best last night’s little event for the film at Il Cielo in Beverly Hills would be a nice opportunity for some free drinks and a brief chat with a likely on-her-press-game Bullock and little else. But boy was I wrong. After speaking with both Bullock and star Quenton Aaron for quite a while, I think they’ve made for one of my favorite experiences of the season.
Aaron, for starters, is absolutely charming, humble, nice as he could be and just a delight to talk to. I’m not used to looking up at people, but at 6′ 8″, I’m sure Aaron is the same way. Before getting the role he was working as a security guard at Rockefeller Center in New York. The first person he told about the news, in fact, was Tina Fey, who was walking by in the hallway when he let loose a scream of joy while on his cell phone. “What is it?,” she said, startled herself. “I just got this part,” Aaron told her.